DISCLAIMER: this blog post has a TON of pictures, not a lot of writing...if there is anything that you want to know more about please send me a message and I will be happy to share...I was trying to fit as much in as I could and there were just so many beautiful places we visited...I didn't want to leave anything out:)
We left the Algarve and drove straight to Seville, Spain, staying at a very cool AirBnB. What an incredible city! Lonely Planet rated Seville
The Best City to Travel To in 2018, and I could see why. Once again Spain blew us away, castles, cathedrals, old towns, gothic quarter, tapas, sangria, Seville has all the essential ingredients to make this a city worth visiting, and leaving you wanting more
.With a list a mile long of places to visit we dropped our bags and off we went.
Our first stop was at the beautiful Maria Luisa Park (our apartment was a 5 minute walk away). With fountains, walkways, incredible gardens and the famous Plaza de Espana, we literally spent hours wandering around.
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| Maria Luisa Park |
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| Maria Luisa Park |
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| A first glimpse at the Plaza De Espana |
The Plaza de España is a plaza in the Parque de María Luisa, built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. A magical place with a style that recreates Arab constructions of 10 centuries ago and that emphasizes the regions of Spain and its union with America.
Over the next two days we explored as much as we could, heading to the cities old quarter where horse drawn carriages, castles, cathedrals and piazzas are in abundance making it seem like you were swept away into a time in history.
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| Edifico La Adriatica |
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| Seville Catherdral |
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| The tomb of Christopher Columbus |
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| Alcazar Palace and Gardens |
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| Real Alcazar Palace and Gardens |
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| Alcazar Palace and Gardens |
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| Alcazar Palace and Gardens |
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| Bell tower |
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| Seville Cathedral |
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| Old Quarter |
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| Barrio Santa Cruz (oh how I love these narrow cobblestone streets) |
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| The Umbrella |
After a very short two days we left Seville with a busy day ahead of us, we were driving to Merida, and then back into Lisbon to see some sites we missed and finally checking into our next accomodation close to Sintra, Portugal.
Merida was once also capital of the Roman province-Lusitania founded 25 BC, and has the most impressive and extensive Roman ruins in all Spain.We were literally just driving through, mainly to see the Roman colosseum and theatre, with a glimpse at the longest ancient Roman bridge in the world....pretty impressive way to spend two hours!
On to Lisbon... again...this time we wanted to stop at the Jerónimos Monastery, Padrão dos Descobrimentos and Belem tower, (even though the Monastery was closed it was still a site to see). Of course we also had to stop at Pasteis de Belem to have my last custard tart- the Pasteis de Nata, apparently this is the original bakery where these tasty treats were created....whether this is true doesn't matter, the results were amazing! I have eaten a hundred of these tarts while visiting....
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| The monastery |
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| Padrão dos Descobrimentos |
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| Belem Tower |
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| my last custard tart.... |
We left Lisbon and headed about 10 minutes outside of the city, closer to Sintra, where we would spend the day exploring what has been crowned the Jewel of Unesco Heritage Sites.
Waking up early as we had a long day ahead of us, we made our way to Sintra, with its mountains, lush forests thick with ferns, exotic gardens and glittering palaces, Sintra is like a page torn from a fairy tale. A long time royal sanctuary (all the big wigs had a place here). The Unesco World Heritage Site- Pena Palace sits on the hilltop and resembles something from a Dr.Seus story.
We all agreed, Sintra was as close to a real fairy tale town as you could get- my absolute favourite place in Portugal.
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| the grounds of Pena palace were incredible, with an area called 7 lakes- each small lake (more like a pond) had a duck and swan house |
In the morning we were heading to the airport, and saying goodbye to Spain and Portugal. After only visiting Barcelona and Seville and absolutely falling in love with both places, I know I will be visiting again...I feel like this time around was just a teaser.
